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United States Department of Agriculture, 



DEPARTMENT CIRCULAR 65. 



Contribution from the Bureau of Plant Industry, 

Office of Congressional Seed Distribution, 

WM. A. TAYLOR, Chief. 



DISTRIBUTION OF TULIP AND NARCISSUS BULBS IN 1919. 



DIRECTIONS FOR PLANTING. 

The bulbs sent are of two kinds — (1) tulip and (2) narcissus. 
(Figs. 1 and 2.) 

These bulbs should be planted in friable rich soil, devoid of rank 
and unrotted or poorly incorporated manures. It should be dug 
to a depth of 12 to 15 inches. The tulip bulbs should be set 5 inches 





Fig. 1. — Bulb of tulip. 



Fig. 2. — Bulb of narcissus. 



apart and 4 inches deep and the narcissus bulbs about 10 inches 
apart and 5 inches deep. The tulips should be planted some time 
during October, preferably about the middle of the month. The 
narcissuses should be planted some time between the middle of Sep- 
tember and the last of October, preferably about the first of October. 
If they are to be grown in pots or window boxes, light, rich soil 
should be used. Place 1 to 2 inches of cinders or broken pots in the 
bottoms of the pots or boxes to insure good drainage. After plant- 
ing, place the pots or boxes out of doors and cover them with about 4 
inches of ashes or sand ; or they may be placed in a dark cool room 
or cellar for a few weeks, until the bulbs have formed a quantity of 
roots. They may then be brought into the light and heat for 
flowering. Keep the soil well moistened from time of planting, but 
avoid overmoistening, for if kept too wet the bulbs will decay. 

133277—19 



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2 TULIP AND NARCISSUS BULBS IN 1919. 

CULTIVATION. 

If planted in beds, the surface of the soil should be loosened after 
each rain and the bed kept free from weeds. In the late fall or 
early winter months it is well to cover the beds with a light mulch 
of straw or leaves to prevent injury to the young roots from the al- 
ternate freezing and thawing of the soil. This mulch should be 
gradually removed in spring, as soon as growth appears above 
ground. The bulbs are quite hardy and are not injured by severe 
cold if the soil is well drained. 

LIFTING AND DIVIDING. 

Tulip and narcissus plants are perennial, and if given proper care 
and grown under suitable soil and climatic conditions will increase 
and multiply from year to year. The bulbs may remain in the 
ground two or three years, or until the clumps begin to crowd. After 
blossoming in the spring, from six to eight weeks should elapse to 
allow the foliage to die partially down, when the bulbs may be lifted 
with a spade or fork. Shake the soil from the roots and store the 
bulbs in a cool, shady place where they will ripen and cure. When 
the old leaves and roots are thoroughly dry they may be easily 
rubbed off and the clusters of bulbs divided. The bulbs may then 
be planted in the same manner as the original bulbs. In this way 
the stock may be increased in a few years. It is seldom advisable, 
however, to leave tulips undug. 

NATURALIZING THE NARCISSUS. 

The narcissus often becomes naturalized when planted in the sod 
or partial shade, where it will continue to grow, blossom, and multi- 
ply for many years without further attention. Simply make a small 
hole in the soil 5 or 6 inches deep, insert the bulb, pointed end up, 
press the soil over the top, and nature will do the rest. For natural- 
izing, avoid planting in rows or rigid geometrical figures. A good 
plan is to scatter the bulbs like seed and plant where they fall. This 
method of planting is entensively followed in the home grounds and 
parks of England and of countries in Europe. In portions of North 
Carolina, on large estates along the James River in Virginia, and in 
old gardens in New England, narcissuses that were planted over half 
a century ago are still growing vigorously and every spring produce 
beautiful displays of blossoms. 

VARIETIES. 

Several hundred varieties of both tulip and narcissus are listed in 
the catalogues of florists and seedsmen. Narcissus is the botanical 
name for the genus of which the daffodil and the jonquil are species. 

The narcissus with large trumpets and flat leaves is commonly 
called the daffodil. Jonquils have glossy, dark-green, very narrow, 
three-cornered, or rushlike leaves. Most of the intermediate forms 
are hybrids. New varieties are originated by growing bulbs from 
seed resulting from crossing one type with another. This is a slow 
process, as several years are required to produce a mature bulb from 
seed. 



vl 7 1933 

IN OF DOCUMENTS 









TULIP AND NARCISSUS BULBS IN 1919. 
DESCRIPTION OF VARIETIES. 



The following Holland bulbs are included in the congressional dis- 
tribution : 

TULIPS. 

So many varieties of tulips (fig. 3) are included in the distribution that it is 
not practicable to give a detailed description of each. The varieties are, how- 
ever, conveniently grouped into the following categories: 

(1) A mixture of varieties well adapted for bedding, and most of them for 
early forcing as well. 

(2) A mixture of varieties of single late tulips, including a few varieties of 
Darwins. These are con- 
sidered mainly bedding 
tulips. 

(3) A mixture of 
standard commercial va- 
rieties of Darwin tulips. 
These are nearly all 
large, robust plants, and 
many are adapted to 
both bedding and forc- 
ing. This group of 
tulips is gaining in favor 
yearly in this country. 
The Darwins as a class 
are the most robust of 
all the tulips, and when 
properly treated are 
really massive in stem, 
flower, and leaf. They 
are especially adapted 
for bedding, although of 
late years several of the 
varieties are being forced 
with good results. Be- 
ing very vigorous, they 
thrive under more ad- 
verse conditions than 
most of the other forms 
and are seldom dis- 
appointing. There are 
many varieties, and the 
colors range from a very 
dark maroon throug h 
various shades of yellow, 
red, and purple to white, 
but there is almost no 
danger of clashes in 
mixtures of varieties as 
there is in other classes 
of tulips. The Darwins 
are among the latest of 
the tulips coming into 

blossom usually in early May in the southern portion of the United States. For 
growing in that part of the country, the Darwins are to be preferred to the 
early tulips. 

(4) A mixture of bizarre varieties — those peculiar bronze-hued forms little 
seen in this country. 

NAECISSUSES. 

Barrii Conspicuus. — This narcissus has a large soft-yellow perianth and a 
short or intermediate form of cup, edged with orange scarlet. (Fig. 4, b.) 

Sir Watkin. — This giant Welsh daffodil has a bold, large chalice cup flower 
of sulphur and orange yellow and where well grown stands fully 18 inches high. 

Victoria. — This is one of the best of the bicolor trumpet varieties, having a 
large flower with white perianth and large yellow flaring trumpet. 

Empress. — Another bicolor trumpet, an old favorite standard variety, with 
longer and narrower trumpet and purer white perianth than the Victoria. 




Fig. 3. — Blossom of tulip. 



LIBRAE OF CONGRESS 




4 TULIP AND NARCISSUS BULBS 

Double Von Sion. — The common yellow daffodi q 000 924 **£L™ 

and is extensively forced for winter decoration ir ^umry. It is of no 

value after the first year except in the North Pacific and Atlantic coast sec- 
tions, and possibly in the Great Lakes region. 

Prmceps Maximus. — Another long-trumpet, early variety which forces well, 
but the flower does not last as well as the others. 

WHERE DUTCH BULBS ARE GROWN. 

Tulips and narcissuses, as well as hyacinths, are known generally 
as Dutch bulbs, because the growing and marketing of these bulbs is 
one of the principal industries of the Netherlands. Bulbs are also 
grown extensively in southern France, in England, Ireland, and the 
island of Guernsey. Most of the bulbs sold by florists and seedsmen 
in the United States are imported directly from the Netherlands, 
the annual importations amounting to nearly a million dollars in 
value. Tulips and narcissuses can be propagated and grown success- 
fully along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and in the region of the 
Great Lakes, but owing to the cost of labor only comparatively lim- 
ited areas have been planted. The largest areas devoted to the grow- 





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Fig. 4. — Blooms of Emperor (a), Barrii Conspicuus (b), and Poeticus Ornatus (c), repre- 
senting the three principal types of narcissus, with large, medium, and small crowns, 
or trumpets. 

ing of these bulbs on a commercial scale in this country are to be 
found in this vicinity of Portsmouth and Richmond, Va., Hoxsie, 
E. I., Newbern, N. C, Bellingham, Wash., Eureka, Cal., and Santa 
Cruz, Cal. 

In order to encourage the growing of Dutch bulbs in this country 
on a commercial scale and to provide American-grown bulbs of 
superior quality for congressional distribution, the Department of 
Agriculture established a bulb-propagating garden near Bellingham, 
Wash., where the conditions of soil and climate are similar to those 
in the Netherlands. The experimental work carried on at Belling- 
ham in connection with the propagation, cultivation, harvesting, 
storing, and planting of these bulbs has been very satisfactory. 

R. A. Oakley, 
Agronomist in Charge. 

July 31, 1919. 

WASHINGTON : GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1919 



